bike culture blogged

We interupt our normal blogging with a message from Dan McComb, director of Beyond Naked

When naked cyclists began crashing the Fremont Solstice Parade in the early 90s, Seattle faced a crucial decision: would the city tolerate an extreme expression of creativity, or would it, like some other American cities, crack down hard?

In Beyond Naked, I’m exploring the story of how an unorganized, unclothed bunch of cyclists crashed a parade, provoked a showdown, and became a legend. Told through the eyes of four first timers, it’s ultimately a film about creative courage.

Most of us will never go naked in public. But I believe that courageous acts of extreme creativity provide more space for those of us in the middle to create businesses, make art, and express ourselves as we choose. You can’t be truly creative without exposing yourself to criticism.

Today, I’m in the final hours of a Kickstarter campaign to raise the funds I need to complete this film. We have picked up more than 100 backers over the last month, and the film is 85 percent funded. We can almost see the finish line. But we’ve got a ways to go. Kickstarter is a make-or-break deal: if I don’t raise 100 percent of my goal by Saturday at midnight, I won’t get a penny. And that would be a real shame.

Help me and my small crew strike a blow for creativity! For as little as $10, you can say “I helped fund that film.”

I fail to see how horny 60 year old guys trying to surreptitiously take pictures of naked cyclists - like the one in the top picture - enables me to run a business, make art or express myself. Don’t really see how it relates to bicycles or the cycling community either, other than tagentially like the girl above. Frankly, the explicit nudity of the Fremont nudists keeps me away from what would otherwise be a great community event. And I can’t help but wonder if the extreme shock value of public nudity inextricably bound to a bicycle is helping fuel the growing outrage against Seattle cyclists.

I did one this weekend in Columbus, OH. I really didn’t think it would be my thing. But you know what? It was an absolute blast. It was empowering (and that is worth its weight in gold.) In my town there were tons of people out cheering us on. I think the vast majority of everyone, riders, onlookers, and yes even some of the motorists enjoyed the event. Maybe we need the backlash to come to a decision point about how we want to configure our cities. If we just be quiet cyclists maybe we won’t ever get the power we need to transform our cities, making them safe and clean.